Cruel Fate
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Future fic. Skye and Grant are devastated when she miscarries.


**I don't own SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.  
**

_Warning for **miscarriage**.  
_

* * *

Excited about her pregnancy, Skye and Grant tried not to worry about what could go wrong. They had spent so much of their lives living the worst case scenario that they wanted to focus on the positive for once. They deserved it after everything both of them had been through. But fate would be cruel to them again, devastating them both. After a mission that went smoothly, the team headed to a hotel and piled into their rooms. Grant wrapped his arms around his wife and settled in because he was exhausted beyond belief. A little less than two hours later, Skye shook him awake. He groaned but snapped to attention when he noticed her fear-filled eyes. "What's wrong?" he questioned.

"I'm bleeding," she tearfully informed him.

Grant immediately jumped out of bed and literally picked her up. She opened the door for him as he ran to Jemma and Fitz's room (thank God they were just across from them) and frantically knocked. "What is it?" Jemma asked as soon as she opened the door.

He stumbled on his words. "Skye … she's bleeding. It's the baby!"

"It really hurts," Skye whimpered.

Her eyes widened. "Ward, we need to take her to the hospital now. I'll get dressed and meet you downstairs."

Grant nodded. "It'll be okay," he assured Skye as he carried her down the hall and into the elevator. Jemma and Fitz met them less than five minutes later – they clearly rushed themselves to do so.

"You're upset and Jemma should stay with you and Skye so I'll drive," Fitz explained to the two of them when Grant stared at him in confusion.

"Thanks, Fitz." His hands were shaking too much for him to drive and besides, he didn't want to leave Skye's side anyway.

Skye hurt so bad and she just knew it'd be too late by the time they got to the hospital. This was worse than cramps, and she didn't want to lose the baby. She wanted to meet this little person that was a part of her and Grant but life seemed to have it out for them. She leaned her head against Grant's shoulder and grabbed Jemma's hand as she began to sob. "Make it stop," she pleaded. Skye didn't want to face the inevitable truth even though it was staring her right in the face.

Jemma teared up and she squeezed Skye's hand harder. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. She wanted to hope for the best but there was so much blood and she knew what that meant.

Fortunately for the four of them, the hospital was only seven minutes away from the hotel. Fitz texted Trip and Phil to let them know what was going on and sat down to wait with his girlfriend in the extremely uncomfortable chairs. "She'll be okay," he told Jemma.

"But the baby won't be. Fitz, why does this keep happening to us? Why can't we ever be happy? Is it too much to ask for? Nothing ever goes right for us, and this is going to absolutely devastate them. Skye and Ward were so excited about the pregnancy and now it's over." She choked on a sob and felt marginally better when Fitz kissed her. Neither of them was surprised when Phil, Melinda, and Trip burst through the doors a few minutes later.

"We came as soon as we could. Have you heard anything yet?" Trip asked.

"She hasn't been in there for very long," replied Fitz. He wanted to go down to the cafeteria but he also didn't want to miss anything.

"And there isn't anything they can do?" Phil needed to prepare himself to be able to comfort the woman he considered to be his daughter.

"Based on what I saw, no, there's nothing." Jemma's voice cracked again and she cringed.

All they could do now was wait.

* * *

"I am sorry but nothing could be done," the doctor told Skye and Grant.

Skye burrowed into Grant's chest and bit her lip to hold back the sobs. Crying wasn't going to help a damn thing. She had just lost their baby and nothing could ever make up for that. Grant felt his world shifting again and irrationally felt responsible for the miscarriage. He didn't deserve to be happy – never had, never did – and this was his fault. The feeling that Skye should stay far away from him popped up again and he tried his hardest to push it away. "Is there anything you have to do?"

"Mrs. Ward seems to be in the middle of a complete miscarriage but we won't know that for sure for a while longer yet. I'm keeping her here for a while to monitor the situation and once we know for sure, then maybe we'll send her home," she explained before leaving the grieving couple alone.

Skye had been so close to the end of the first trimester. At nine weeks along, they had stopped worrying and had even started discussing names. Why had they both been so stupid to hope? But she knew Grant's train of thought and had to derail it because he sunk further into the abyss again. They couldn't go through that again. "We're going to make it past this eventually. It doesn't seem like it now but we've made it through so much, Grant. Remember that, okay?"

He nodded. "I'll try my best," he promised his wife.

"Then that's all I can ask for. Can you go get Jemma and May? I want to see them." She figured that those two had called everyone else and they were camped out in the waiting room. Skye also wanted to give Grant time to pull himself together and he would fall apart if he stayed in this room any longer. And she also knew that he'd hate himself for it when he thought she needed the support (and she did, but so did he).

Grant reluctantly pulled away from Skye and kissed her before leaving the hospital room. He felt like a zombie when he entered the waiting room. Coulson jumped up immediately and his heart sunk when he saw the look on the specialist's face. "She's miscarrying. Um, she wants to see Jemma and May."

"Grant, why don't you sit down?" Coulson encouraged. He wasn't surprised when the younger man shook his head.

Fitz and Trip approached him but carefully so they wouldn't startle Grant. "Anything you two need, you tell us and we'll take care of it. You're not in this by yourselves so don't drown." Trip waited for permission before he clapped Grant's shoulder.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"You're not going to fall apart, Ward. We won't let you." They had worked (with the help of a therapist, of course) far too hard to bring him back to them after the Hydra incident. Besides, no one wanted Skye and Grant to suffer.

"They're both right. Don't shut us out, Grant. It's not going to work." Phil hid his surprise when Grant charged into his arms and began crying. His whole body shook with sobs. The director rubbed his hand up and down Grant's back to soothe him but it didn't seem to be working. "I'm here. It's okay – you can let it out."

"Fitz and I are going down to the cafeteria to get something to eat," Trip whispered. Coulson nodded and watched him walk away.

Fitz lingered for a few seconds and they figured out the reason why before he departed. He joined on in the hug (and felt guilty about the small flinch that came about as a result) and then left.

Phil tried his best to best to comfort Grant but it was near impossible because of the obvious distress. "I'm sorry," Grant sobbed.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, kiddo. You're allowed to grieve for your child and what could have been." He started rocking him back and forth (it was pretty awkward considering they were both standing) but it didn't help.

For now, all Phil could do was try his best and hoped it worked.

* * *

Skye's face crumpled as soon as Melinda and Jemma walked into the room. "Mom?"

"I'm here, baby." Melinda immediately went to her surrogate daughter's side and started rubbing her hand down Skye's arms.

"I wish there was something I could have done." Jemma didn't know why she felt guilty – it was irrational.

"It's not your fault, Jem." Skye's voice broke again and she soaked up Melinda's comfort. She felt a little better now that the two women were in the room but wanted Grant back. She was worried about him.

"And it's not yours either. Miscarriages are common in the first trimester, Skye." Jemma knew better than to tell her that she and Grant could try again – that wouldn't help at all.

"I know the statistics. I just wish I hadn't been another one. Fuck, I'm a mess."

"It's okay that you're a mess. No one's judging you for it." Melinda's lips curled up into a small smile and she sat down in the chair closest to the bed.

"Thanks." Skye appreciated their support and she'd tell them later when she didn't feel like her entire world had just crashed down on her again.

Jemma pulled up the other chair and just sat and waited with the two women. That was all they could do anyway.

* * *

Grant's sobs started to slow down and Phil pulled away to gauge how he was feeling. His heart broke at the visible tears and his reddened face. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and clean yourself up?"

"Skye won't want to see me like this," Grant agreed. He winced when his voice cracked.

"She's not going to be mad, Ward. She's probably feeling as sad as you are right now."

Grant ducked into the bathroom and washed his face so he could be presentable when he returned to his wife's side. He stuck close to Fitz when he headed back in to see Skye. "I love you," he brokenly told her.

"I love you too." Skye smiled at him and they could all tell it was faked but no one called her out on it. None of them had the heart nor the energy to do so.

Three hours later, the doctor felt it was safe enough to discharge Skye – she had completely miscarried. He urged her to go in to see her OB/GYN for a follow up appointment, however, and she agreed to it immediately.

Jemma had gone back to the hotel with Trip earlier and disposed of the bloody sheets so Skye and Grant wouldn't be upset even further when they left the hospital. The maid had come in with new ones so that was already taken care of and no one needed to know.

"You want me to stay here with you?" Melinda asked as soon as they got to the door.

"I can bunk with Coulson, I guess." Grant wasn't looking forward to it but it'd be awkward to sleep in the same bed as Skye and Melinda.

Melinda rolled her eyes. "We're all adults here and know nothing's going to happen. Skye can be in the middle so everyone's happy."

Grant shrugged. "Works for me." He just wanted to sleep and try to forget about this horrible night (it would be etched in his memory like a lot of bad days were).

Skye couldn't help the unexpected giggles when the three of them tried to get comfortable in the somewhat small bed. "We're idiots."

"We are." Grant was just happy she could at least laugh about something. He didn't think he'd be able to for a long time.

Skye was worried about her husband backsliding and she was determined to pull him out before he could do so. She'd tell the others to keep an eye on him to make sure it didn't happen again. "I feel empty," she confessed.

Grant flinched at the unexpected confession but didn't react other than that. Melinda took charge and pulled Skye's hair away from her forehead. "I know. Just go to sleep and we'll talk more in the morning."

"Okay." And fortunately for them all, Skye fell asleep in less than ten minutes.

Grant stared at the ceiling. "I don't know how we're ever going to get past this," he admitted.

"The grief is fresh, Ward. Try to sleep, okay? You need rest too." Melinda shifted to face him, careful not to wake Skye, and waited until he too fell asleep.

Skye and Grant fell apart in each other's arms in the morning and they found leaning on each other helped a lot. Their grief didn't ease but they found that they could deal with it a little better when they were together. They were able to move on eventually although the grief still stuck with them, especially on bad days. Their family's support also went a long way. And the pain faded away a little bit when Skye and Grant became parents to twins (that had been a shock) eleven months after the miscarriage. Nothing could ever make up for the loss they went through but they soldiered through it just like they had with everything else.


End file.
